This invention relates to a secure container particularly but not exclusively for housing a coin freed mechanism and also the money collected by the coin freed mechanism and to a lock guard device which is designed for use with the container but which may be used with other key operated locks.
Coin freed devices are used to operate various different types of equipment. In some cases such as vending machines the machines are often placed in a location which enables them to be watched over by responsible persons to reduce the likelihood of attempts to break open and steal the contents. In such cases it is desirable to provide a suitable locking arrangement and security container but in many cases these are not particularly complex or strong since the positioning of the equipment tends to inhibit attempts of theft.
In other cases such as car wash equipment, the coin freed devices are located in an area which is generally not supervised and hence the container for the coin freed device must be manufactured in a manner which itself inhibits attempts at theft.
Various designs of container of this type are available but generally these have been unsatisfactory for various reasons including the complexity and cost of manufacture, poor resistance to corrosion or the poor security in view of the availability of access points for leverage tools.
It is one object of present invention, therefore, to provide an improved secure container which is manufactured simply from a limited number of parts and which provides very limited access for leverage tools.
According to a first aspect of the invention, therefore, there is provided a secure container comprising a first channel member and a second channel member each being shaped to define a base panel and side panels extending outwardly from the base panel generally at right angles thereto, said channel members being dimensions so that they are substantially of the same length and such that they can be arranged in face to face relationship with longitudinal edges remote from the respective base panel of the side panels of the first channel member substantially abutting longitudinal edges remote from the base panel of the side panels of the second channel member with the base panels spaced so as to define an enclosure within the channel members, means provided on said longitudinal edges for interlocking the edges in such a manner that the channel members can be engaged to form said enclosure only by movement of one channel member relative to the other in a longitudinal direction, actuable locking means for locking said channel members against said longitudinal movement, and two end cap plate members each arranged to close a respective end of the enclosure, one of said end cap members being secured solely to said first channel member and the other of said end cap members being secured solely to said second channel member.
The device is therefore manufactured very simply by a pair of channel members which can in a preferred arrangement be effectively identical but inverted together with the end cap members one of which is secured to one of the channel members and the other to the other of the channel members. This simply enables the device to be manfactured in two halves which can be longitudinally slid together to form the enclosure and simply moved apart when the locking device which prevents the longitudinal movement is unlocked.
Preferably there is provided a money compartment defined by a plate attached to one of the channel members adjacent its end cap so as to define a rectangular compartment between the plate and the end cap which is accessible simply by sliding the other channel member away from that end cap to expose the front face of the compartment. A drawer can be mounted in the compartment which is locked to the fixed channel member.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a secure container comprising a first channel member and a second channel member each being shaped to define a base panel and side panels extending outwardly from the base panel generally at right angles thereto, said channel members being dimensions so that they are substantially of the same length and such that they can be arranged in face to face relationship with longitudinal edges remote from the respective base panel of the side panels of the first channel member substantially abutting longitudinal edges remote from the base panel of the side panels of the second channel member with the base panels spaced so as to define an enclosure within the channel members, means provided on said longitudinal edges for interlocking the edges in such a manner that the channel members can be engaged to form said enclosure only by movement of one channel member relative to the other in a longitudinal direction, actuable locking means for locking said channel members against said longitudinal movement, and two end cap plate members each arranged to close a respective end of the enclosure, said interlocking means being arranged to face inwardly of said side panels and comprising on one of said side panels and edge thereof turned back to define a u-shape and on the other of said side panels an edge thereof firstly bent to one side to form an offset and then turned back to define a u-shape so that the u-shape on said one edge can interlock with the u-shape on the other edge with said side panels coplanar to prevent movement of the channel members to increase the spacing between said base panels and wherein said offset engages the u-shape on said one edge to prevent the movement of said channel members in a direction to decrease the spacing between said base panels, a first offset being provided on one edge of one side panel of said first channel member and a second offset being provided on a side panel of the second channel member which interlocks with the other side panel of the first channel member such that the second channel member has the same cross-section as the first and is an inversion thereof.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a lock guard device which can be used to protect a key operated lock against unauthorized forcing of the lock.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a lock mechanism comprising a lock actuating device, a lock member engagable by an elongate blade of a key, said member having a slot shaped front opening for axial movement into the member of the blade of the key when pressed through the front opening, said key blade being shaped to have one dimension transverse to its length longer than a dimension at right angles thereto so that it can pass through the slot shaped front opening, said member and key being arranged such that a matching key can be rotated to move the lock actuating device, and a security cover device for covering the front opening, said security cover device comprising a collar member for surrounding the front opening and defining an opening forwardly of an axially aligned with the front opening and a cylinder extending therefrom toward the front opening, a front plate member received within the cylinder generally right angles to the axis and free to rotate within the cylinder about the axis, said front plate member having a slot shaped opening therein for the key, lip means confining the plate member within the cylinder against axial movement out of the cylinder a back plate member received within the cylinder generally parallel to the front plate member and free to rotate within the cylinder and having a slot shaped opening therein for the key and means in the space between the front plate member and back plate member which is free to rotate and move within the space.
Preferably in the space rearwardly of the front plate member is provided at least three balls which have a dimension such that they are retained in position around the periphery of the cylinder but which can be moved apart to allow the key to pass through. Four balls is the preferred number but there can be more or less as required.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the best mode known to the applicant and of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention, in which: